Laura Loomer takes credit for Trump’s Panama policy

Loomer: Trump “called me” about Panama and he “took my advice, and now you see President Trump calling for the United States to take back the canal” and an “audit of all NGOs”

Written by Alex Kaplan

Published

Far-right activist Laura Loomer, a self-proclaimed “proud Islamaphobe” who has said she is “pro-white nationalism,” stated on her Rumble show that during the 2024 election, she consulted with President Donald Trump on the Panama Canal, migration in Panama’s Darién Gap, and non-governmental organizations. Loomer claimed that Trump then “took [her] advice” on those subjects.

Loomer has a history of promoting virulent xenophobia and anti-Black bigotry, conspiracy theories about mass shootings, and white nationalism. Despite this history, Trump has associated with Loomer, attempting to hire her for his 2024 presidential campaign and traveling with her to both his debate against then-Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and to a September 11 memorial ceremony. Trump has also repeatedly promoted Loomer’s content online, and Loomer has even claimed that Trump told her, “You’re so smart. ... I read your website every day.” (Trump’s campaign later tried to distance itself from Loomer, though Trump refused to denounce her, calling her a “free spirit” and a “supporter.”)

On her show, Loomer has repeatedly pushed claims that Panama, along with the Darién Gap, is a pipeline for an “invasion” of migrants to America that could lead to terrorism. According to The New York Times, Loomer also traveled to Panama — as did some other right-wing media entities — and she posted reportedly deceptively edited content from her travels, falsely suggesting that “Democrats are encouraging” migration “to create new, illegal voters” and casting international aid organizations as “profiteers making money off human misery.” Trump reportedly reposted one of her videos from the trip on Truth Social.

On February 7, Loomer claimed that Trump “actually called me one day, during the last election season, and was asking me about the Darién Gap, and he was asking me about my videos and my trip to Panama,” and she noted that she urged him to “make it a policy position to take back the Panama Canal” because “the CCP has an enormous presence in the Canal Zone and how they are facilitating illegal immigration, and that’s why we have such an influx of Chinese invaders coming into our country.”

She further elaborated that Trump told her that “he was going to be looking into it” and specifically wanted her “input on the issue of the Panama Canal” and “on the issue of the illegal alien invasion taking place in the Darién Gap and Panama.” She additionally claimed that she “had several conversations with President Trump and also Marco Rubio and other officials in the Trump administration about these NGOs and about the activities in Panama.”

Loomer then claimed that Trump “took my advice,” and boasted, “I’ve been told directly by people who work for President Trump that my videos have played a massive role in opening President Trump’s eyes to NGO corruption and the chaos that is happening down in the Panama Canal Zone.” Last year, Loomer claimed on her show that undocumented immigrants in Panama were being “supported” by NGOs and urged Trump to seize the Panama Canal as a supposed solution.

Ahead of Trump’s second inauguration, he threatened to take back the canal, and Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan said that the administration would “shut down” the Darién Gap. In early February, Trump also ordered an audit of federal funding to NGOs.

From the February 7, 2025, edition of Loomer Unleashed, streamed on Rumble

LAURA LOOMER (HOST): Somebody said the Darién Gap story was only Laura. So on top of all the news with USAID tonight, I was mentioning in my monologue how the NGOs are directly tied to USAID because they’re getting their funding through USAID. Well, as many of you know, I’m close with President Trump. I do not work for President Trump. But when I traveled to the Darién Gap last year, and, of course, we crowdfunded all the expenses for that trip here on Loomer Unleashed, I went to the Darién Gap migrant camps, and I uncovered a lot of fraud and a lot of illegal activity by NGOs, including groups like HIAS, that were giving maps to illegal alien invaders who were coming into our country. And these videos ended up going viral. 

And believe it or not, President Trump actually called me one day, during the last election season, and was asking me about the Darién Gap, and he was asking me about my videos and my trip to Panama. And I told the president, I said, “I really think that, in your second administration, you should make it a policy position to take back the Panama Canal.” And he was like, “Oh, well, you know, what makes you say that?” And I explained to him the CCP interference and how the CCP has an enormous presence in the Canal Zone and how they are facilitating illegal immigration, and that’s why we have such an influx of Chinese invaders coming into our country. You see they’re coming in through the Mexican border, but they’re getting to the Mexican border through the Darién Gap, and then they’re making their way up through Costa Rica through these buses. 

And long story short, President Trump took my advice, and now you see President Trump calling for the United States to take back the canal. Senator Marco Rubio, who is now the secretary of state, has traveled to Panama and the Darién — and the Panama to have discussions about taking back the Panama Canal. And now President Trump yesterday signed an executive memo calling for an audit of all NGOs. And so it’s really amazing because you’re going to see groups like HIAS now get audited.

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And I received a phone call from President Trump who said that he was going to be looking into it and wanted my input on this. He wanted my input on the issue of the Panama Canal, and he wanted my input on the issue of the illegal alien invasion taking place in the Darién Gap and Panama. And so I’m proud that I have had several conversations with President Trump and also Marco Rubio and other officials in the Trump administration about these NGOs and about the activities in Panama. And so I was very excited yesterday to see President Trump sign this executive memo, calling for all of the NGOs to be audited. So this is really incredible and it’s exciting.

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And I’ve been told directly by people who work for President Trump that my videos have played a massive role in opening President Trump’s eyes to NGO corruption and the chaos that is happening down in the Panama Canal Zone.